A Better Man
by CBSlave737
Summary: Local news source writes story on Pepper singing A Better Man by Little Big Town, Tony sees it and worries. This story went somewhere completely different than what I sat out to write.


A/N: I own nothing related to this fandom.

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Pepper sat up in bed and automatically reached for her stark phone. It's been a part of her routine for the last couple of decades: wake up, check phone, send Tony long message about whatever he'd done now (or hadn't done) that he would ignore, then get out of bed to start her day. It wasn't unusual for Tony to send her things throughout the night, but she only saw one thing from him this morning so she opened it. A link to an online article was all that was included.

A browser window opened to a page from The Daily Bugle, headlined:

 **Trouble in Paradise?**

With the byline:

 _Potts thinks Stark is a Terrible Person_

She rolled her eyes but continued to scroll down the page.

While out with several friends last night, I was lucky enough to be in the same restaurant as Miss. Virginia "Pepper" Potts, current Stark Industries CEO and girlfriend of Tony Stark, maybe.

Although she was dinning with Maria Hill and Natasha Romanoff, both formerly of SHIELD, it seemed to be a night out with friends, not a business dinner. When the restaurant announced they were going to be starting karaoke soon, Miss. Potts and her friends laughed but made no move to leave; in fact, they each ordered another drink.

The karaoke portion was well under way when I noticed Miss. Potts getting up to sing. To my surprise she started singing A Better Man, by Little Big Town, a current popular country group. It quickly became apparent this was not her first time singing this song, as she rarely looked down at the lyrics, choosing to keep her eyes closed most of the time.

The song, from a lady's perspective, describes her feelings after breaking up with her man. She talks about how she wishes he was a better man, how she stays up missing him, but wishes he was a better man. She says she is better off on her own than needing a man who treats her like she's always going to be around.

Can this be a warning to Mr. Stark? Or is this her way of announcing their break up, which I know most of our loyal readers were expecting a long time ago.

You can decide for yourselves after watching the full video of Miss. Potts' performance which we have at the bottom of this article. Let us know your thoughts in the comment section of this page.

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Pepper blinked at her phone a couple of times before playing the video and laying back against the pillows as she listened to her, slightly intoxicated performance from the night before.

She opened her eyes, which had slipped closed at some point, when she felt her phone being removed from her hand. She offered a smile and accepted the cup of coffee being handed to her when she sat up. He sat on the edge of the bed and angled toward her.

She sipped her mug and held eye contact until the video finished playing, sighing when he turned it off.

He arched and eyebrow and she grinned.

"Should I take it as a warning?" Tony asked.

"What do you think?" she sipped her coffee.

"I thought things were going great for us, I've been trying to do better."

She reached over and put her mug on the bedside table and placed her hands on the sides of his face.

"I love you, Tony Stark. I'm not going anywhere, it's taken us this long to get here and I'm not planning on changing that." She moved around and got up on her knees to move closer to him. She slid her arms around his neck and kissed his forehead, "Stop worrying, I promise nothing is wrong."

"Something is." He said, reaching up and pulling her arms down and getting up from the bed.

"Tony?" he walked over to the closet and disappeared inside it. "It's just a song I like, it doesn't mean anything." She called out. He walked out of the closet and joined her on the bed.

"Pepper, I love you." He opened his fist and she gasped as it revealed a simple diamond engagement book. "Marry me?"

"Oh Tony." She shook her head. "No."

His hand clenched closed around it, but her hands closed around his before he could move.

"I don't want you to propose just because you are afraid that I'm going to leave you."

"I'm proposing, because I love you and want to have a future together, me and you Potts."

"Can I see it?" he looked at her and let her pry open his fist. She held the ring in one hand and rubbed the indents on his palm, left from how tight he was clutching it, with the other.

"It's not your usual style." she observed.

"No, it's yours." He said. "Jarvis helped me design it."

"When did you have time to do this?" she asked, still turning the ring around.

"I'm good at multitasking."

"Jarvis?" she questioned the AI.

"2008."

"2008?" she questioned, "We weren't together then."

"I had this ring made for you after I got back from the desert. Even when I couldn't admit it, I loved you. It's always been you Pep, I just couldn't see that." He hung his head and studied the bed sheets.

"But you see it now, right?" Pepper asked, lifting his head with a hand under his chin.

"I do, you are the most important thing in the world to me. I love you."

She smiled at him, "That's all I need to hear." She said. She kissed him.

She held out the ring, "Ask me."

He held eye contact with her as he reached out and took the ring back.

"Marry me."

She grinned, "Yes."

He grinned as well and slipped the ring on her finger, holding on to her hand after it was settled.

"Perfect." She said.

"Yes, you are."

"That was cheesy, even for you."

"What can I say, you bring it out in me Miss. Potts."

"Mrs. Stark."

"Mrs. Stark." He agreed with a kiss.

….

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This went a different direction than what I originally was thinking.

Please review and let me know what you think.


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